The present invention relates to an exercise device and method for improving the reflexes of participants in sports activities that call for highly developed avoidance reflexes. Athletes with improved reflexes as developed by the present invention often have a competitive edge in such sports as boxing, karate, judo and similar body contact sports. The invention also has utility in reflex training and conditioning for sports such as football, basketball and soccer.
The training to improve reflexes for such sports as boxing frequently requires the participation of another athlete, such as a sparring partner, to provide the blows which the training athlete is to be taught to avoid. Such training can be harmful to the athlete when, for example, the sparring partner's blows are not avoided. The present invention may lessen the potential for harm from reflex training by providing cushioned and/or light-weight arms that may be moved toward a training athlete at a speed and from a direction selected by the athlete's trainer. The arms, being cushioned, provide only a light slap when the athlete fails to avoid them.
Further, the efficiency of reflex training may be reduced by a sparring partner who does not follow directions from the athlete's trainer. This may be important where, for example, a boxer is to be taught not to drop his fists. A poor sparring partner may not take advantage of the dropped fists to deliver a blow that the athlete is to be taught to avoid.
The efficiency of reflex training may be improved by use of the present invention because the blows delivered thereby can be timed and directed by the trainer. The trainer, being positioned behind a backboard through which the arms extend, is free to concentrate on the athlete's responses and move the arms to solicit desired responses. The arms may be positioned around the athlete so that he is forced to avoid blows to various parts of the body, such as the knees (as in a karate kick simulation), the torso (as in a boxing jab simulation) or the head (when improving bobbing and weaving reflexes).
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel training device for improving the reflexes of an athlete that obviates the problems of the prior art and that does not harm the athlete during training.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel reflex training device that has plural arms adapted to be moved with a speed and from a direction selected by the trainer.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel training method for improving the reflexes of an athlete that does not require the participation of a second athlete, such as a sparring partner.
These and many other objects and advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims and the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.